You may have heard of the EUDR, the European Union Deforestation Regulation. Adopted by the European Union, it requires companies importing certain products — including coffee — to prove that their supply chain is not linked to deforestation. In practice, that means mapping plots, knowing the GPS coordinates of farms, and making every lot traceable back to its origin.
For many players in coffee, it is a revolution. For Maison Soleil, it is almost a formality.
The advantage of anticipation
Since our founding in 2021, our model has been built on direct trade with French-speaking African cooperatives. And in every contract we sign, we ask for the GPS coordinates of the plots. Not for compliance — it did not yet exist in this form — but because traceability is at the heart of our commitment.
Today, our five partner cooperatives — Terres de Nyungwe in Rwanda, Soleil du Cavally in Côte d’Ivoire, Les Hauts de Boyo in Cameroon, Route d’Antananarivo in Madagascar and Rives du Kivu in the DRC — already comply with the EUDR’s requirements. Every lot we roast in Marseille carries that geolocation.
Why it matters to you
The EUDR is not just about traders and roasters. It concerns you, as a consumer, because it makes visible what was too often opaque. By choosing traceable coffee, you help protect ecosystems, pay producers under better conditions, and prevent deforestation from being the hidden price of your cup.
At Maison Soleil, we chose not to wait for regulation to act. We also shared part of the 2024 price surge with our producer partners, themselves hit by input inflation. It modestly raised our prices, but it kept our contracts fair.
Compliant coffee — but above all, honest coffee
The EUDR is a milestone. For us, it is merely a formalisation of what we have practised from day one: knowing the origin of every bean, paying fairly, roasting with care. Traceability is not a label you stick on: it is a relationship you build.
And that relationship is something you taste in every cup.